Combination brassiere and foundation garment



' y 1942- M R SCHUBERT 2,283,144

COMBINATION BRASSIERE AND FOUNDNTION GARMENT Filed Feb. 4, 1939INVENTOR. MJMVA 1?. SCHUBEPT ATTORNEK Patented May 12, 1942 1 YCOMBINATION BRASSIERE ANDFOUNDA-' V V TION GARMENT Minna R. Schubert,Saginaw, Mich., assignor to Le Monde Corset Company, Saginaw,corporation of Michigan Mich., a

Application February 4, 1939, Serial No. 254,646.

2 Claims.

This invention relates to foundation garments such as girdles or corsetsand has for its object the provision of an improved garment havingoverlapping bands or wings permanently secured to or made integral withthe girdle or corset to support the upper abdomen and conceal the topline of the girdle, and in which the said wings may be diagonallytensioned for this purpose without stressing an attached brassiere orotherwise undesirably flattening the breasts. More particularly, itrelates to a one-piece garment including a brassire permanently ordetachably secured to the girdle and to the abdomen-supported wingsreferred to.

Garments of this kind hitherto offered have.

been so made that the necessary tension upon the overlapping abdominalwings has-been exerted laterally downward upon the fabric of thebrassire, pulling diagonally downward across the breasts. For thisreason perhaps this intrinsically convenient and desirable type ofgarment has not previously been successfully marketed.

My improvement for the first time makes available a foundation garmentof this general kind in which the diagonally-directed downward tensionof thediaphragm-restraining members or wings is divided and transmittedlaterally below the breasts to the sides of the garment and verticallyto a top band of the garment above the breasts so that the body fabricof the brassire is not stressed and the undesirable flattening effect ofearlier garments of this kind is avoided. Thus a unitary foundationgarment is provided affording the natural youthful lines demanded by thetrade today and providing the desirable overlapping wings covering thetop and front of the girdle which serve both to conceal the top line ofthe girdle and to lift, flatten, and confine the flesh over thediaphragm.

Referring to the drawing, Fig. 1 shows in front view, a garmentaccording to the invention fastened upon a wearer;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of the garment of Fig. l partly openadditionally to show its construction; and

Fig, 3 is a fragmentary front view of an alternative form of garmentembodying the invention.

The garment of Figs. 1 and 2 consists of a girdle having a front-openingbrassire consisting of halves 2 and 3 made as integral parts of thegarment. The brassiere halves 2 and 3 are secured along their rearwardedges to the sides of the garment. In the garment shown, they are sewnto the forward edges of the back of the girdle, which is higher than thefront. Downwardly tapered wings 4, 5 are secured at their upper edgesto-the lower margin of the brassiere halves'z 'and 3 respectively, andat-their rearward upright edges 6 and: 1 are fixed to the sides of thegirdle in the instant garment along continuations of the seams b-y'whichthe halves 2, 3 of the brassi're are sewn to :thegirdle. The diagonalbands or wings 4, 5 are so shaped and pro- 5, which selectively oradjustably fasten into a plurality of buttonholes provided in tabs -8, 9fixed to the sides of the girdle, or other fastening means may of coursebe employed if desired. When the garment is fitted the tension uponwings 4, 5 is adjusted and determined so that each 'exerts the necessarydownward transverse pull to produce the desired restraining pressureupon the wearers flesh above the top of the girdle. In the garmentsheretofore constructed along the foregoing general lines, the tension ofthe overlapping wings as 4, 5 was applied diagonally across the breasts,thus producing an undesirable flattening effect. Especially with thepresentday uplift brassire this earlier con- 7 struction was entirelyimpractical, and necessar ily therefore foundation garments have beenmade and sold without the diagonally-tensioned overlapping wings forcovering the top line of the girdle.

The specific improvement constituting the or other light fabric. At thecenter of the halves a vertical inelastic tape H is fixed to, or madeintegral with the front lateral edges of the wings 4 and 5 at the centerof the brassire. In Figs. 1 and 2 this inelastic tension member consistsof two tapes ll along the adjacent front edges of the halves 2, 3, whichcontinue down the front edges of wings or bands 4 and 5. Hooks or otherhook-and-eye fastening means for fastening the halves 2, 3 mayconveniently also be anchored to tapes II.

The" tape or tapes H are fixed at their upper ends to an inelastic tapeor band I2 at the top of the garment, to which the upper edge of thebrassiere may also be sewn or detachably fastened. The top band I2 issecured at its ends to the upper lateral edges of the back panel of thegirdle which lie at the sides of the wearer. It may be provided withshoulder straps I 3, as shown, or it may be tailored to the wearer andmade self-supporting in garments designed for wear with straplessevening gowns. In either case it is fitted and arranged so as to supportall downward pull of wings 4, upon tapes I I.

It will be seen by reference to Fig. 1 that the diagonal tension exerteddownwardly by each wing 4, 5 is, by suitable roaching or pre-tensioningof the central upright edges of the wings and the brassiere halvesdivided into substantially vertical and horizontal components. Thearrows in Fig. 1 diagrammatically show the tension on wings 4 and 5translated into horizontal pull along the lower edges of the wings totheir points of fastening 6 and l to the sides of the girdle l and intodownward pull along their substantially vertical forward edges; Thevertical pull is carried by the inelastic tapes I l to the similarlyinelastic top binding I2 above the wearers bust, whence it may becarried by the shoulder straps I3. All tension transmitted to thebrassire memis used, and one wing 5a is detachably fastened by hooks orfasteners 14 along the lateral edge la of the girdle I, together withone edge of the brassire. A single inelastic tape Ila is provided at themid-line, secured at its lower ends to wings 4a, 5a, and at its upperend to the top band l2. Here, as in the garment of Figs. 1 and 2, thetape Ila is preferably stretched tight if it is sewn to the brassiere,while the fabric of the brassire is loosened or gathered slightly. Thustension upon it will not affect the position of the brassire.

While I have shown and described a preferred form of the invention, itis within the scope of the present invention to make the brassiredetachablefrom or separate from the strain-supporting members H and I2.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. A foundation garment comprising a girdle, a pair of wings secured oneat each side, of the girdle, arranged to overlap and be detachablyfastened to the girdle on. opposite sides of its mid-line, said wingsshaped and positioned when fastened to overlie the upper edge of the topof the girdle and be tensioned laterally and downward to restrain theflesh of the wearer thereabove, their upper edges lying below thebreasts of the wearer, an inelastic band adapted to resist downwardtension, connecting and secured at its ends to the opposite upper sidesof the girdle, and positioned and formed to lie above the breasts of thewearer, and a narrow substantially vertical inelastic tension-sustainingmember connecting said band and the upper edges of said wings at oradjacent the front center line of said garment;

2. A garment as claimed in claim 1, having a brassire secured at its topto said inelastic band,

at its sides to the sides of said girdle, and at its bottom to the topedges of said wings.

' MINNA R. SCHUBERT.

